The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

...there are a few implausible coincidences, but Larsson makes us care too much about his characters to hold these flaws against him. The Girl Who Played With Fire is that rare thing - a sequel that is even better than the book that went before.
-Guardian

Part blistering espionage thriller, part riveting police procedural, and part piercing exposé on social injustice, The Girl Who Played with Fire is a masterful, endlessly satisfying novel.

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

Stieg Larsson, who lived in Sweden, was the editor in chief of the magazine Expo and a leading expert on antidemocratic right-wing extremist and Nazi organizations. He died in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscripts for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Kirkus

NY Times

Reviewed by Michiko Kakutani
on
Jul 16 2009

an intricate, puzzlelike story line that attests to Mr. Larsson’s improved plotting abilities... that simultaneously moves backward into Salander’s traumatic past, even as it accelerates toward its startling and violent conclusion.

Guardian

Reviewed by Louise France
on
Feb 14 2009

...there are a few implausible coincidences, but Larsson makes us care too much about his characters to hold these flaws against him. The Girl Who Played With Fire is that rare thing - a sequel that is even better than the book that went before.

Blog Critics

Reviewed by Zoltaire
on
Feb 03 2013

In a way, this is a better book than its predecessor. It is faster-paced, more suspenseful, has more depth, and contains more action scenes. Larrson takes us to Salander’s dark past that explains her introverted anti-social personality...I give The Girl Who Played with Fire five luminous stars.

Blog Critics

Reviewed by Rhetta Akamatsu
on
Jan 05 2012

full of intrigue and mystery, action and one astonishing revelation after another. Once again, you will be enthralled, and once again, you will find it very hard to put this book down until you finish it.

Book Reporter

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
on
Jan 22 2011

If THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO was amazing, then THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is astonishing...Please read THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. Its 500-plus pages have the detail of a thousand, but you’ll read them with the speed and intensity of a short story...Very strongly recommended, if you hadn’t guessed already.

AV Club

Reviewed by Ellen Wernecke
on
Jul 30 2009

The Girl Who Played With Fire indulges itself by nudging its characters into the exact places where...the shock waves will reach them. The waiting through domestic dinners and unremarkable vacations is almost unbearable

Review (Barnes & Noble)

Reviewed by Donna Rifkind
on
Jul 28 2009

Joy is not the first emotion one would expect to feel while reading a long Swedish crime novel that deals with misogyny, sex trafficking, police corruption...Yet The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second novel in Stieg Larsson’s internationally bestselling Millennium series, turns a reader inside out with a joy that can’t be squashed...

PopMatters

Reviewed by Diane Leach
on
Aug 09 2009

At 514 pages, The Girl Who Played with Fire is one of the longest mysteries I’ve ever read...The Girl Who Played with Fire moves rapidly to its dénouement, keeping readers turning the pages as the investigations cross, overlap, and finally converge. For all that, the ending is abrupt, leaving me wondering about Larsson’s intentions.

Readings

Reviewed by Martin Shaw
on
Nov 26 2008

At close to 600 pages, The Girl who Played with Fire is a thumping great read – though one of my colleagues devoured it in very nearly one sitting! I, too, was transported by such fine storytelling, with characters you really care about. It’s been described in a French newspaper as ‘more than a book, a drug’. And yes, I’m addicted!

Book Chatter

Reviewed by Ti
on
Oct 29 2009

Tense at times with a very quick pace, this one will keep you on your toes...even though I had some nit-picky moments with this one, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It took off right out of the gate and kept going and it didn’t disappoint in the end.

Annette's Book Spot

Reviewed by Annette Mills
on
Feb 23 2011

The Girl Who Played with Fire has a stunningly intricate plot. I loved this book...If you liked Dragon Tattoo, you should read this. If you like a complex, intelligent mystery-thriller, you should read this.

Pop Culture Nerd

Reviewed by Pop Culture Nerd
on
Jul 28 2009

As with Tattoo, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck here. This book is a thriller, police procedural, exposé on sex trafficking, and psychological study. The exploration of Salander’s psyche makes Fire an even more compelling book than Tattoo...

A Separate State of Mind Blog

Reviewed by Elie Fares
on
Jul 17 2011

But the way the books is written and the near cinematic transitions between scenes builds an undying suspense with a terrifying ending. Yes, this book’s ending will leave you at the edge of whatever furniture you’re sitting on while reading. The ending gives the book its title.

http://catholicmediareview.blogspot.com

Reviewed by Christine
on
Jul 18 2010

I like the characters, especially Lisbeth, Mikael and Lisbeth's friend Miriam Wu. The characters are used very effectively to tell the story. The 4 investigations are woven together very nicely, and Larsson does a particularly good job of building suspense as they progress...

Relevant

on
Mar 30 2010

Though the beginning is somewhat slow, Larsson uses this time to add extra depth to the characters of Salander and Blomkvist before unveiling his book’s complex plot. Once the mystery is introduced, he guides readers through each thread carefully, with characters stopping often to fill each other in on the latest developments.

http://www.complete-review.com

Reviewed by M.A.Orthofer
on
Aug 08 2009

The basic idea of the grand conspiracy that has set all this into motion -- and, in fact, that has made Salander into the screwed-up young woman she is -- is decent enough, but Larsson's roundabout way of revealing what is going on is rather awkward...The Girl who Played with Fire is a very readable thriller, but also a very flawed one.